The Quick & Dirty on Data: Starting Smart as a New Head

Entering a new school as the in-coming head or administrator can feel as if you are being flung onto a moving train.  You need to get your bearings fast, ask the right questions, and decipher a mountain of information, all without losing sight of the people behind the data. Whether you're inheriting a thriving institution or one in development, your initial introduction is critical. While you likely asked some questions during the interview process, it is now your school, and you need to get a clear and honest picture of the landscape.  

Hit the Ground Running

To help you hit the ground running, here’s the quick and dirty data an in-coming head of any school should have at their fingertips:

• Strategic Plan: Existing goals, board directives, and any pending initiatives or changes

• School Overview: Current school time-table and calendar, accreditations and status, memberships, local networks and partnerships, and aspirations

• Enrollment: Current enrollment, demographics, maximum capacity, waitlists, and attrition trends

• Academic Data: Assessments and trends (ideally 3 or more years if applicable), standardized test scores (AP/IB/SAT/ACT etc.), graduation rate

• Student Support: Processes, programs, assessment data, allocated staff

• Staffing: Organization chart, number of employees and demographics, degrees and certifications, staff turnover rates, upcoming openings, professional development tracker, and salary scale/benefits package

• Finances: Operating budget, predominant revenue sources, recurring expenses and big-ticket items, cost per student, cost per employee, and any cash flow concerns

• Parent & School Community: satisfaction survey results, important feedback or comments

• Safeguarding: Safeguarding training, emergency drills/procedures, incident processes/reports, legal concerns, campus safety/issues, and insurance coverages

  
  

There are no specific departments attached to this data list because, from school-to-school, structures can be different. 

New school heads may find they are asking for information that the school, for whatever reason, does not have. Take the lack of information presented and put that on your to-do list.  This can serve as a starting point for developing a plan to systematically collect and store data that will guide future strategic planning and decision-making or even creating a case for a particular position.

There’s always more we can do, and working with data can be fun, but only when it serves a purpose. No one wants to collect data just for the sake of it. What is provided here is a powerful collection of data that can help guide initial conversations, planning, and decisions. 

The faster you get the lay of the land, the sooner you can lead with purpose and confidence. That’s the fix!